How to Find the Right Instructor for Your Voice

Deciding to enroll yourself in voice lessons to improve the quality of your voice or overcome mental barriers regarding your talent is a great step to developing your true voice. It can be challenging for those who feel insecure about their singing voice or singing in front of crowds.

When starting voice lessons, you will want to find a vocal instructor that is right for you, and that can prove difficult. Vocal Instructors and coaches are a mouse click away online these days, so you have a massive number of options to choose from.

If you just want to learn how to sing, or want to learn how not to be afraid when performing in front of an audience, you might not feel you have to be really choosy with your vocal instructor. This is not the right way to go about finding your vocal instructor. Anyone who is working on their vocal skills in any capacity should be selective in their vocal instructor, so that they can not only establish a good fit, but see real progress and results.

Whatever your end goal is – staying on pitch, holding long notes, expanding your range – voice students must develop the proper vocal fundamentals, voice techniques, and skills. The Throga guidelines provide a basis to help you within each of the 7 Dimensions of Singing. Singers need to identify and target their problem areas from the dimensions to work on such as breathing, tone, strength, and range.

When deciding on your instructor, keep in mind and watch out for any instructor trying to mold you into the singer that they want you to be. It is crucial that you cultivate and work on the singer you are. Everyone’s voice is different, and your voice is unique to you and only you, so don’t let another instructor tell you that they need to strip your voice of its natural tendency and work towards a particular style, music genre, or voice type.

Finding a voice instructor requires some research and informed questions so that you can assess the teacher while they assess you. Think about asking some of these questions:

– I want to work on my breath support to hold long notes – what exercises are going to help me with that?
– How do I breathe properly?
– What advice do you have for helping to cope with performance anxiety?
– I have trouble staying on pitch – what kinds of exercises can I do?

If you and your instructor can easily work together to set goals, and then as you study, you are able to see progress happen in your voice and your vocal skills, then you have found the right vocal instructor to help you achieve success with your voice studies. Congrats and happy singing!

AUTHOR: KERRI HARDWICK